Remarkable record of a remarkable family

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32776, 29 November 1971, Page 4

Remarkable record of a remarkable family

The television talk among Friday night viewers heard among friends on Saturday was about one programme only—the documentary on that tremendously talented family in England who were shown at work and play in “Shows Promise Should Go Far.” And little wonder this programme made such an impression. It was not only that four remarkable youngsters were seen; there was so much to admire in the way the material was presented. The documentary, in which Austin Mitchell was the narrator, was never allowed to hold a hint of a circus act. There was not the slightest evidence that the children watched by the camera were not doing exactly what they usually do, and doing it in a relaxed and normal fashion. A boy of 11 with the I.Q. of Einstein and who will be at the level of second-year university mathematics when most boys are still having trouble with their tables, another of nine who seemed very nearly ready for a career as a concert pianist, a girl of seven absorbed in creative art, and a little one of four who, it was said, looks likely to excel the others, certainly make up a remarkable family.

CHTV3 2.00 p.m.: Headline news. 2.03: The Stealers of Darkness. Play. ■> 3.20: Women’s Report. • ! 3.34: Petticoat Junction. Comedy. 3.59: Sesame Street. 4.55: Uncle Joey Comes To Town. 5.01: Wild Kingdom. Natural history. 5.24: Magic Roudabout, 5.31: Headline news, weather. 5.34: Partners in View. Magazine. 5.46: Fantastic Voyage. Science fiction. 6.08: The Rovers. Adventure. (New series.) 6.34: Swim—butterfly stroke. Fifth of 10 parts. 7.00: Network news. 7.20: Weather. The South Tonight. 7.40: Mission Impossible—-“ The Controllers.” First of two parts. (New series.) 8.29: Grandstand. Sport. 8.54: Newsbrief. 8.56: The Jesuits—The Hated Society. Documentary. 9.42: The Parachute. Play. 11.01: Late news, weather.

NATIONAL LINK [lncluding 3YA Christchurch (690 kilohertz); 2YA Wellington (570 kilohertz); 4YA Dunedin (750 kilohertz); and 3YZ Greymouth (920 kilo- ■ hertz)] 7 p.m.: N.Z.B.C. Sports News. 7.5: On the Country Side. 7.30: La Ronde Internationale. 8.0: Rhythm on Record. 8.30: Weather and News. 9.0: Julie’s Room. 9.46: Music for Dreaming. 10.0: Festival of Hungarian Folk Music. 10.30: N.Z.B.C. News, Comment, Weather. 10.45: Music from The Dancing Years and King’s Rhapsody. 11.0: 8.8. C. News and Commentary. 11.15: (continuous) 11.30: Call My Bluff. 1.30 a.m.: Those Were the Days. 3.3: Peter Martin Orchestra. 4.9: Cabaret Time: Mike Dolan. 3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilohertz)

7 p.m.: Concertante Ensemble Amelia Skinner (flute), Hironao Kuwashima (oboe), Alan Gold (clarinet), Gordon Skinner (bassoon), Marcel Lambert (horn), John Rimmer: Composition 2 for wind quintet and electronic sounds (N.Z.8.C.). 7.14: Cristofano Malvezzi and Emilio de’Cavaliere: Sixth Intermezzo: Text by Rinuccini concerning the

k But the star, if that is the a. word, was their Italian-born 1 mother, a woman who has deg voted about 20 hours a day Sto the upbringing of her e children, and who shows a warm and deep understandV ing of them, without any y parade of virtue. Austin Mitchell, usually an ’. ebullient and vigorous com--1 mentator on any subject he S is given, was respectfully o quiet here, and little wonder. It was a delightful glimpse r of this family of modest B means but extraordinary att tainments. The only unhappy r thought it left was the possibility of some viewing s parents being fired with new 0 ambitions for their children e . . . and driving them posthaste back to the key—and s drawing boards. The rest of the week-end fare was of modest quality, h “The South Tonight” had a •- happy little look at the Santa 0 Rosa entertainers, who sounded fine, and some hog- • callers, who didn’t. The last t was seen for a while of “Hon gan's Heroes.” There have e been few more repetitive comy edies than this one, but they a seemed to get away with it i. quite satisfactorily, princiL pally, perhaps, because they b are an engaging lot of young r men. a The two feature films were j not up to much. “The Sniper” ’ was about a young man, j mentally ill, who had a habit iof killing brunettes. There was much oppressive mood a music, with the fiddles and e basses flat out, but it was L very much a B grade movie, s And “Arabesque,” in which i Gregory Peck appeared with Sophia Loren, and Sophia

descent to Earth of the Gods of Rhythm and Harmony (1589). 7.30: Peter Racine Fricker: Prelude, Elegy and Finale, for strings (1949) — Little Orchestra of London under Leslie Jones. 7.41: Poems for Voices. 8.0: Delius. Written and introduced by Peter Godfrey. (7) Walk to the Paradise Garden (A Village Romeo and Juliet); Idyll—Angela Shaw (soprano), Graeme Gorton (baritone), N.Z.B.C. Symphony .Orchestra under Peter Godfrey. 8.43: Schumann: Kreisieriana, Op. 16—Artur Rubinstein (piano). 9.16: Opera Stars of Yesterday and Today. 9.46: Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G (K. 216) —Gioconda de Vito (violin). Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Rafael Kubelik. 10.13: Survey of Polish Music (Final) Contemporary Music. 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilohertz)

8.2 p.m.: Selwyn’s Christmas Hamper. 9.2: Double One Double 0 Requests. 11.5: Till The Midnight Hour. 3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH (1400 kilohertz)

7.30: p.m.: World Records on the Air. 8.0: Things are Swinging. 10.0: From the Top Pops.

Loren once or twice appeared in very little, was a disappointment. The audience was knee deep in mystery almost immediately, but it was difficult to know at times whether this apparent send-up of mystery stories was not tending to take itself seriously. It all wound up with a maniac in a huge crane attacking Mr Peck and Miss Loren with an enorous weight at the end of his fearsome fishing line, and then Peck, Loren, and a gentleman in white robes playing an Arab ruler, each with a horse and galloping madly in all directions pursued by a helicopter in which sat a gentleman with a large automatic gun, a vast supply of ammunition, and a very poor aim. But Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck have such screen mana that it probably wouldn’t matter very much what they were asked to do or say. There was another bright programme from the “Happen Inn” company, with the complicated dance with a Spanish flavur especially enjoyable, and there was some more anti-Mafia warfare staged by Neil McCallum as Angelo James. “Vendetta” is somewhat better than most of its type, because Neil McCallum really works at being Angelo James, and he gives the part much more conviction than most would do. Ronald Leigh-Hunt, an old friend from the youngsters’ programmes, was there as the Sicilian police chief, and there were hints of “The Wages of Fear” and “High Noon” as Angelo, always willing to risk life and limb, waited for the hour to strike, so he could drive off with his load of explosive and run the gauntlet of Mafia grenade-throwers. He survived.—PANDOßA.

On and off

Programmes ending this week are:—

Tomorrow: “The Monkees” (4,21). Wednesday: “Seven Seas” (5.43). Friday: “Hogan’s Heroes” (7.40) Saturday: “The Bugs Bunny Show” (5.38). Sunday: “Storyline” (5.23); “The Main Chance” (8.53). New programmes are:— Today: “The Rovers” (6.08); “Mission Impossible” (7.40). Wednesday: “The Queen Street Gang” (4.51); “Contrabandits” (9.42). Thursday: “Doctor Doolittle” (4.44); “Here’s Lucy” (5.41) Jesuits The Jesuits—the name of the most militant of Roman Catholic orders still strikes an emotive response from many people. In spite of a crisis of recruitment, the Society of Jesus remains one of the most formidable bodies of men in the world, respected even by its harshest critics. Since it was created by Ignatius Loyola 450 years ago, the order has produced a constant stream of notable men, spanning almost every phase of human endeavour. Macdonald Hastings, a member of an old English Catholic family, was given free access to the society’s archives and current activities to produce a television programme and the fact that he himself is an agnostic! ensures that the examination 1 was dispassionate and objec-l tive. The 8.8. C. was allowed to' film (possibly for the first time) young Jesuits taking their vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. This enthralling incursion into the world of a renowned order of priesthood was produced by Harry Hastings and will be seen from CHTV3 on tonight. FLIGHT TO THE ICE A flight from Hawaii to Antarctica is tracked in “Starlifter South,” an N.Z.B.C. documentary. Edited by Peter Reed and produced by Ken Ellis, the programme follows the flight of an American Air Force Starlifter which is part of the support force for American work in the Antarctic. “Starlifter South” screens from CHTV3 next Thursday. Rovers In “The Rovers,” an Australian children’s series, two boys who feel victimised by the adult world flee from a yacht and encounter danger and many varied adventures before their discovery and their reconciliation with their elders. “The Rovers” begins screening from CHTV3 today. y